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There’s a fine line between passion and desperation, “Bugonia” and “Eddington” producer Lars Knudsen told 35 filmmakers at Square Peg Social in Austin in late October. Desperation is driven by fear. Passion is driven by confidence. And throughout a filmmaker’s career, there will be people who try to capitalize on that desperation to get a film made.
I keep thinking about that distinction because desperation is often the low-octane fuel of independent film. Filmmakers need substantial money to support singular ideas that don’t correspond to mainstream concepts of what will sell. Being an indie filmmaker requires real nerve.
Desperation produces flop sweat. But under the right circumstances, that energy can be channeled as passion that moves the dream forward. Real-world stories give filmmakers the chance to lead from strength rather than need.
That reframing was central to Square Peg Social, the four-day gathering co-hosted by Knudsen, his Square Peg partner Ari Aster, and Amy Knudsen. By bringing 26 writer-directors and 9 producers together with 27 industry mentors, they created something filmmakers desperately need but rarely make space for: unguarded honesty about what it takes to sustain a filmmaking career.
Why It Matters (Even If You Weren’t There)
Only 35 filmmakers experienced this firsthand, but the conversations illuminate what the broader independent film community needs to reckon with: the terror of being bullied by agents, mistakes made under pressure, the “very bad experiences” even successful filmmakers endure. These aren’t aberrations. They’re common struggles being navigated in isolation when they shouldn’t be.
Independent film is in an incredibly challenging moment. As distribution models fracture and budgets contract, losing hope becomes not just understandable but almost practical. As assumptions that once structured the industry no longer hold, we have to try new ways to see what might work.
What made Square Peg Social notable was its rejection of conventional outcomes. There were no script developmentsessions, no pitch meetings, no financing goals. Instead, the event operated on a different theory: that bringing together excellent mentors and genuinely impressive filmmakers to share the unvarnished good and bad of their experiences would produce its own value.
Evidence suggests it did.
“When [Lars] invited me, he said something like, ‘You guys will get up there, some casting directors, the financiers, it’s a little bit loose, but at the end of the day, if nothing else will be a great opportunity to catch up with everybody,’” said Sara Murphy, producer of “One Battle After Another.”
“It was a very casual approach that ended up being warm and welcoming,” she said. “And more productive than any of the conferences I’ve been to. So yeah, I loved it. I was like, how do I get invited every year?”
Intentional Opacity
This summer, I announced the call for entries for Square Peg Social, with slim details: a gathering in Austin for filmmakers and mentors, hosted by Aster and Lars and Amy Knudsen. They would provide writer-directors and producers with mentors, programming, private dinners, and intimate gatherings designed to help them make movies.
Nearly 1800 applications arrived. In a sharp departure from similar programs, neither the selected filmmakers nor the invited mentors were announced. The application was vague, asking only for a body of work and a cover letter explaining what applicants hoped to gain.
Unconventional but intentional. The result was an event that felt unbuttoned but was crafted with the care usually reserved for state dinners.
“You didn’t have to listen to pitches, you didn’t have to team up with anybody,” Murphy said. “It was a meticulously curated guest list of people that were exciting to meet. Everybody I sat down with, filmmakers and fellow industry professionals, were everybody I wanted to talk to, which is rare at these things.”
A Room That Wouldn’t Stop Talking
I was the only journalist, and only attended the final day to ensure everyone felt comfortable; the rest was kept confidential. My first impression was Austin being Austin: The start pushed to 10am instead of 9am after a long Saturday night. But then the room started to fill and it became like a lively, coffee-powered party that toggled between intimate sit-downs and groups standing and talking.
And it never stopped.
Until 6pm, when everyone headed out for a final dinner, the conversations in the Soho House salon never let up. Even at lunch, everyone grabbed sandwiches and kept talking. By the end, Square Peg Social spoke with one voice: hoarse.
This wasn’t about developing screenplays, shooting scenes, or seeking financing. Pitching was specifically discouraged. While there were some panels and curated conversations, the real point was creating multiple opportunities for everyone to be honest about what sustaining a filmmaking career actually requires.
The Currency of Candor
“Many of [the filmmakers] mentioned that they appreciated our candor,” Aster wrote me the day after the event. “It was important to us that we not give calculated answers or pat advice, but that we be as unvarnished and unguarded as possible. Otherwise, what’s the point? Lars and I have also had a couple very bad experiences in this industry, especially in one distressing and endlessly prolonged instance, and I think it was useful to talk about what we learned there. There are certain things I won’t ever let happen again, and I wish someone would have warned me about those things before I went through the gauntlet.”
The willingness to discuss failure and missteps—not as cautionary tales, but as evidence of survival—ran throughout the event. Alex Orlovsky, who recently produced “Roofman” and executive produced “Sorry Baby,” identified this as “the beauty of what [Square Pegs] did. I think mistakes are the things that you can be like, ‘No, that happened to me and I’m still here.’ Just that messaging is really important for young filmmakers to hear.”
While many conversations covered familiar territory for emerging filmmakers—festival circuits, sales processes—Orlovsky valued discussing “mistakes that I’ve made that they should not make if they don’t have to. Or just, ‘Don’t get bullied by agents. It’s okay. They say they’re never going to talk to [you] again and that’s a lie.’ To speak from experience about things that, if you’re a young producer, can feel quite intense and terrifying.”
The specificity matters. Knowing that agent threats are performative, that certain mistakes are common and survivable, that even successful filmmakers have endured “distressing and endlessly prolonged” experiences—it’s all ballast against desperation.
A Deliberately Curated Community
The 27 mentors (full list below) also included Matthew Greenfield, president of Searchlight Pictures; WME partner Roger Green; and Harrison Huffman, executive producer of “Christy,” “Eddington,” and “The Iron Claw.”
The guest list emerged from friendships and network connections, but the filmmakers were “curated”—a word that came up repeatedly in conversations with mentors. This curation meant the exchanges could transcend simple mentorship into something more mutual.
“I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s going to happen. They’re going to do it,’” Orlovsky said of the participating filmmakers. “There are a couple that I’m even interested in figuring out if there’s ways for us to be involved. I think there’s almost too many people I want to stay in touch with.”
The Shared Condition
Tomorrow, I’ll share what the filmmakers themselves took away from Square Peg Social. But I want to close with Knudsen’s opening words to the group because they frame why building community around vulnerability rather than mere opportunity matters:
“What everyone here has in common is that “There was never anything else I wanted to do” — and we thought it could be empowering to bring like-minded filmmakers together and help create a sense of community around that statement — to share experiences and help each other.
“There was never anything else I wanted to do.” It’s both a blessing and a curse. It’s not accurate to say we do it because we love it. There are plenty of times where I hate being a producer. But since it’s all I know how to do I’ve had to find a way to take the good with the bad — and luckily for me, I’ve learned the most from the bad.
“I produced my first film over 20 years ago and as I prepared for this weekend I realized that there are so many things that I take for granted today that I would have benefited from knowing back then — for example, one thing that I have learned the hard way is that there is a fine line between being passionate and desperate. Desperation is driven by fear, passion is driven by confidence, confidence creates momentum and momentum makes films — so a big hope of mine is that you leave here with confidence in what is to come and let your passion drive you, not your desperation.
“Throughout our careers we are surrounded by people who — sometimes — will try to capitalize on our desperation to get a film made. We want to equip you with the tools to take those people on and allow you to be more firmly in the driver’s seat on the films that you direct or produce. Nothing is off limits.
“There was never anything else I wanted to do” describes not ambition but condition. It was the shared ground beneath every conversation at Square Peg Social — the reason why honest talk about fear, mistakes, and survival mattered more than networking strategies or pitch practice. When there’s no alternative path, the question isn’t whether to continue but how to continue well. That’s the conversation worth having, and the one this event made space for.”
MENTORS
Ari Aster Writer-director and co-founder (with Lars Knudsen) of Square Peg, home to “Hereditary,” “Midsommar,” “Beau Is Afraid,” and “Dream Scenario.”
Alejandro De Leon Executive producer of “Eddington” and “Night Moves.”
Ellen Chenoweth Casting director. Credits include “Diner,” “Broadcast News,” “Michael Clayton,” and 13 films with the Coen Bros.
Henry Dunham Writer-director of “The Standoff at Sparrow Creek” and the upcoming “Enemies” starring Austin Butler and Jeremy Allen White.
Jacob Epstein Manager, Lighthouse Media.
Roger Green Partner, WME.
Matthew Greenfield Searchlight Pictures president, overseeing award-winning films including “The Favourite,” “Nomadland,” “Poor Things,” and “The Shape of Water.”
Toby Halbrooks Sailor Bear partner with producing credits including “A Ghost Story,” “The Green Knight,” “Pete’s Dragon,” “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” “The Old Man & the Gun,” and the upcoming “Mother Mary.”
Sam Hanson Executive, A24.
Emily Hildner Producer, Square Peg.
Elliott Hostetter Production designer of “Eddington,” “The Neon Demon,” “Night Moves,” and “Bones and All.”
Harrison Huffman Executive producer of “Christy,” “Eddington,” and “The Iron Claw.”
Lars Knudsen Co-founder (with Ari Aster) of Square Peg, behind “Hereditary,” “Midsommar,” “Beau Is Afraid,” and “Dream Scenario.” Other credits include “The Witch” and “American Honey.”
Sara Murphy Producer of “One Battle After Another,” “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” “Licorice Pizza” and “If Beale Street Could Talk.”
Brennan O’Donnell Literary and talent manager, Grandview Entertainment.
Alex Orlovsky Producer of “Roofman,” “Blue Valentine,” and “Half Nelson” and executive producer of “Sorry Baby” and “The Last Showgirl.”
Janet Pierson Former director of SXSW Film, known for championing breakthrough work like “Short Term 12,” “Tiny Furniture,” “Thunder Road,” “Sorry to Bother You,” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Ann Raurk Executive producer on “Beau Is Afraid” and “Caught Stealing”; producing credits include “Eddington” and “Wildlife.”
Noah Sacco A24 film executive.
Michael Sarnoski Writer-director of “Pig,” “A Quiet Place: Day One” and the upcoming “The Death of Robin Hood” starring Hugh Jackman.
Anish Savjani Founder of Film Science. Producer of “Rebel Ridge”; longtime Kelly Reichardt collaborator on “Old Joy,” “Wendy and Lucy,” “Meek’s Cutoff,” “Night Moves,” “CertainWomen,” “First Cow,” and “Showing Up.”
Alex Scharfman Writer, producer, director of “Death of a Unicorn.”
Tim Smith Writer-producer of “The First Omen.”
Arkasha Stevenson Director credits include “The First Omen.”
Anita Surendran Entertainment attorney, partner, and co-chair of Granderson Des Rochers’ Film and Television Practice.
Pete Thorell First AD on “Eddington,” “Ozark,” “Ripley,” and “Is This Thing On?”
Jennifer Venditti Casting director of “Marty Supreme,” “The Smashing Machine,” “Bugonia,” “Euphoria,” “Uncut Gems,” and “Good Time.”
Ross Wiggins Agent, UTA.
